The operation

The nurse came to collect me and took me (wearing my long compression socks, slippers, gown and dressing gown) to the operating theatre for my surgery. I walked down there, met the team (5+ people!) and lay down on the operating bed/table.

It was a while before the surgeon arrived and was ready, so I chatted with the anaesthetist about life in general, the procedure, the operating theatre etc. I was going to have a LOCAL anaesthetic (small painkiller in the groin/penis area) rather than a general anaesthetic. It meant I'd recover a lot faster and the whole procedure would be quicker. I was a bit scared, but wanted to be quick so opted for local anaesthetic.

When they were ready, the surgeon caught up with me, told me what he was going to do, and what to expect during the procedure.

They started by rolling back the foreskin and painting my penis and groin area with an orange substance that had a slight heat to it, like tiger balm or deep heat rub. He said it was for cleanliness and so on - standard!

Then they offered to put up a curtain over my chest so I wouldn't be able to see what was happening - I definitely agreed to that. Although I'm interested now, I certainly didn't want to see the operation happening live. Your choice, though.

After then explaining the anaesthetic procedure, he went on to administer it. This was two injections to the base of the penis. I won't lie, these hurt quite a lot and were very unpleasant. The needle hurt a lot going in, and then there was a lot of stinging as the liquid was injected in. It was quick to act, though, and the whole area began going totally numb.

They left it for a few minutes to work, massaged it in, and then tried testing the effect, using my frenulum. They asked if I could feel sharp pain, and poked it with (I assume) a scalpel. It did hurt quite a bit so I actually needed a third injection, but by that point I couldn't even feel it go in. It took another few minutes and they tested again. I couldn't feel anything this time, not really even any pressure, let alone sharp pain.

They then went to work on it. The idea is that they cut the frenulum at the very top, pull it down to loosen it, and reattach it a certain distance down (perhaps half an inch or so). They reattach it with stitches.

I spoke to the anaesthetist the whole way through about my holiday, about where she was from, and so on. She was lovely and really tried to keep my mind off what was happening. I also tried joking with her and the surgeon and whistled and sang songs to keep my mind occupied.

Now, I really, really didn't enjoy the operation. Although I didn't feel any pain as far as I recall, it was the idea of knowing what was happening down there and not being able to feel anything at all which was bothering me. I was very sweaty, my heart was racing and I hated every second of it. It was terrifying to me!

People react to these situations differently, so you might be totally different. However, I would recommend doing the procedure under general anaesthetic to anyone thinking of having it done. It takes longer but you're totally unaware of anything. I wish I had done it that way, but hey, I survived it! And it probably made me a stronger person.

I was taken to recovery on the bed, and they made sure I was feeling OK for about 20 minutes, taking my blood pressure, my temperature, and giving me a cup of water as I was thirsty. I kept feeling like I needed to pee, but put that down to the total numbness in my penis/groin area. I really didn't enjoy the numbness either, as I expected to feel sudden pain any second. I didn't, but my mind likes to play tricks sometimes.

I then was taken on the bed back up to the ward, where the nurses helped me off the bed and into my room, where I got back into my bed. My girlfriend was waiting for me as she'd just finished work, and I rested and chatted to her.

The next post will be about after the operation.